We asked Annie to write about her experience in preparing for the college career fair. Here are some of her tips:

As a senior in college, I have attended two Career Fairs. I must admit that the second one was less intimidating than the first because I knew what to expect. The only advice I was given upon the first Career Fair was “dress up, pass out some resumes, and be yourself”. As valuable as that advice was, I realized there was a lot more I could have done to prepare myself for an event that could open doors to my professional future.  They are an excellent way to network and gain experience in learning to introduce yourself to possible employers. Since I would have benefited from someone giving me more direct advice on getting ready for a Career Fair, I have listed 8 things college students should do to prepare for a Career Fair.

1. Get Your Resume Together

Since Career Fairs can be extremely busy and crowded, you may only have a couple minutes to speak with an employer about yourself and what your qualifications are. Your resume acts as a representation to the employer about who you are and what makes you the optimum candidate. If you are seeking a job in a couple of different fields, make multiple resumes that display your skills for each specific position.

2. Do Your Research

Find out which companies are attending the Career Fair. Find out a little bit of company history. What do they do? Why are they successful? Be prepared to show them how much you know about their company. Also, set your priorities. There may not be enough time for you to reach every booth, so decide ahead of time to which recruiters you would like to introduce yourself.

3. Decide Which Positions You are Seeking

What interests you? How does your education and personality apply to the position? Be sure that the employers with whom you are eager to meet are looking for someone with your skills, experience and interests.

4. Work on Your Introduction

First impressions can be crucial, especially when you only have limited time with an employer. Let them know where you have been and where you would like to go. Remember that they are potentially meeting hundreds of students that day and you do not want to get lost in the shuffle.

5. What Do You Want to Know?

Be sure to think of the questions that you want to ask ahead of time. Try not to ask any questions that you could find the answer to on an external source (company site, search engine, etc.) Questions specific to the company will show that you did your research. Most likely the employers will ask if you have any questions, and they will be impressed when you have them prepared!

6. Plan Your Schedule

Career Fairs can be four or more hours long. If you can, plan your schedule accordingly so that you arrive as early as possible. By arriving earlier in the event, recruiters are more energetic and enthusiastic to meet you. In my experience, they are less crowded in the beginning, which gives you more time per booth.

7. Be Well Rested

By getting a good night’s sleep, you are more likely to be focused and lively at the Career Fair. You want the employers to see you at your best. If you act tired, the employers could mistake that for a lack of motivation.

8. Look Professional

Dress the part. You should look the way that you would for an interview. A classic suit with polished and comfortable shoes always works. Make sure to try your clothes on before the Career Fair so you can be sure that everything fits properly and to avoid surprise rips and snags. Be clean and well groomed because the better you look, the better you will feel!

The job offers will not come to you. You have to seek them. Do not take the Career Fair lightly because you could receive the offer of a lifetime, and you have to know that you deserve it.            

 Annie Poma is 22 years old and was raised in Walnut Creek. She is currently a senior at California State University, Chico. She will be graduating with a BA in English with a Spanish Minor in 2013. She enjoys reading, writing, traveling and spending time with her friends and family.

It’s no secret that we don’t like those who are geographically undesirable.  Whether you are looking at a new house or dating, hiring an employee or considering a career move yourself, it’s not actually a secret that distance can create a serious emotional barrier, in addition to the obvious physical one. So, where was the big recruiting secret? How did I break code?

I explained to my friend, that his geographic limitations could cost me my client.

You see, I want to believe you, dear candidate, when you tell me you’re up for an hour-plus commute. I want to accept at face value that if the opportunity is awesome, you will drive. I mean, why would you lie? Let’s move forward, right? Well, here’s the problem. You are not likely to take this geographically undesirable opportunity – if offered – if you are able to secure a closer opportunity. In fact, in our experience, you are likely to turn down the faraway offer if you are merely interviewing for closer opportunities. The bird in hand argument does not have a chance when up against the murderous commute.

So, how this goes down for recruiting folks, is as follows:  We present our fabulous candidate (you). We convince our hiring manager that you are fine with the commute – her obvious first concern when she saw your address. When you ultimately turn down the offer – and trust me you are likely to do just that – you send a beautifully written note explaining that the commute was just too difficult. You see, you believe you are preserving a relationship. You know your path – and that of the  hiring manager – will likely cross again. So, you will blame the commute distance in your ultimate declination.

Unfortunately, our client will fire us. We are expected to vet this upfront. We knew where you lived, and where the employer is located. So, how is it only now, after rounds of interviewing that we learn this is a problem for you? We can’t tell the truth – that you assured us that the problem was nonexistent. We can’t imply that you lied or misled. Because again, why do they need a recruiter who would have missed such obvious signs.

It is easier not to pursue your candidacy from the start.

Lest I leave you mad at the lack of control on your part, if you are in the one per cent of folks who like a long commute, I will leave you with some steps you can take to remain in consideration in situations such as these:

1. Point to long stints with equally long commutes. “Please see the position at ABC on my resume. I commuted 60 miles each way for over 3 years and only left that position when the company shut down operations…”
2. Let me know if you have friends or relatives with whom you can stay two or three days per week.
3. Let me know if you would consider relocating to be closer to your job, if you like it.
4. Point to examples of you having moved closer to your jobs, in similar situations.

In other words, know and acknowledge the fear and then work to truthfully assuage all doubts. Otherwise, we’ll file you in the Geographically Undesirable category, and you may not know it.

Click here to check out our quick and easy guide.

As a recruiter who places IT Executives, I have to say, I will save this for the for the budding executives within our network.  Tip 7 is probably the least commonly employed tack. It’s one that bears repeating:  Work with your vendors! Whether you’re vying for budget, career advancement, your next role, or some kudos for your team, your suppliers can shine that spotlight on you and your fabulous team. Set your success in motion – get funded, get noticed, get promoted or get hired – it’s all the same. But whatever you’re working toward, it’s time to get your partners working it for you.

I like the candidate who sent that now infamous “hire me because I’m ordinary” cover letter, for his bluntness and honesty. And while I admire the creative approach that made him stand out among his considerable competition, there is no way I’d hire him. First off “crap” is an easy-to-spell, four-letter, one-syllable word. Misspelling “crap” is, well, “crap”. Secondly, “Summer” should be capitalized.

I’m sure he landed that – or an equally impressive position. I’m even more sure others will now step up their game in the quest to stand out among other applicants. Just remember, when using expletives, slang, and other simple words, “spell check” is your friend.

Keep in mind, I interview candidates for my clients every day. As I compare their sometimes good, sometimes obnoxious, sometimes relevant, sometimes rambling answers to Gaga’s, I’ve observed that this music and fashion icon knows a thing or two about preparation and fielding questions. These are the top nine things I learned from Lady Gaga about giving a good interview.

1. Research the company and interviewers in advance. Hopefully, you’re interviewing for a job that you want to do with a company you want to work for. But how will you know if you don’t look into both? Read up on the company itself by browsing its website, news releases, and what’s being said in the market about its products and its competitors. Use LinkedIn to get some background info on the people you’ll be meeting with to find out what you have in common so you can draw upon that in conversation. A world-famous singer doesn’t happen to give a good performance. She knows her craft, studies it, practices, and delivers!
2. Be on time. In Gaga’s case this means gracing the cover of a specific magazine. In yours, it means arriving for your appointment five to ten minutes prior to your interview. Give yourself that extra time to sign in, take a deep breath, and get comfortable in your surroundings.
3. Turn off your mobile phone. Ringers, dings, vibrations, texts, tweets, and flashing displays are all distracting. Don’t do yourself the disservice of getting off-track. Instead, leave your cellie in the car or turn it completely off. In a hit song Gaga says “Stop calling! Stop calling! I don’t want to talk any more!” Tell your friends and family you will be offline while you’re interviewing.
4. Be yourself, but behave according to your audience. For a conversation with Barbara Walters, Gaga wore a classic Chanel suit. When she performed at the MTV movie awards, she donned a black onesy and spurted fake blood on herself. Represent who you are, but keep it professional for this setting.
5. Give examples. Hiring managers are not looking for “yes” and “no” answers. Expand on your initial direct “yes” or “no” with an example, anecdote, or description. If you make the interviewer carry the entire conversation and force you to explain terse answers one by one they’ll become bored, frustrated, and find you less than personable. But….  Do not ramble! While it is ok for a loved celebrity to talk freely about her hometown, fashion preferences or causes, you need to keep your explanations tied to the question at hand and work-related. You’re there to earn a job, not a date. If you need more on this topic, see Vivo’s April 25 blog posting by Marilyn Weinstein.
6. Do not lie. Even though my girl says “I hate the truth so much that I’d rather have a giant dose of bulls**t anyday,” interviewers want the truth about your skill set and career history. And with everyone connected and everything online these days, they’ll find it whether you tell them or not.
7. Do ask questions. Ten out of ten times an interviewer will ask if you have any questions for them. Of course you do! You prepared them in advance of the interview while you were researching the company (see item 1). They should be on the tip of your tongue, relevant, and show that you do care about your career and where you spend your professional energies. There’s no way a rockstar is going to play a concert at the dog park across the street from my house. She’s going to book the HP Pavilion…. On January 17 (YAY!). So show your audience the gig and the venue matter to you.
8. Be confident. According to the woman herself, “When I wake up in the morning, I feel like any other insecure 24-year-old girl. Then I say, ‘Bitch, you’re Lady Gaga, you get up and walk the walk today.”
9. Send a thank you note or email. You’ve likely taken a good hour of your interviewer’s time, and if he/she is looking to hire it means too much work exists there already and not enough time during the day to do it. So show that you appreciate his/her sharing part of the workday with you. Even better, include a reference to something that was discussed during the interview to indicate you were paying attention and that you remain interested in pursuing the opportunity. Lady Gaga constantly tell her fans how much she loves her millions of “Little Monsters.” Surely you can take a few minutes to appreciate a few Hiring Managers.

There you have it. Your career is not going to happen to you. You must design it with thought and decision and take the job search seriously, every high-heeled dance step of the way.

Not long ago, most network design was uniform. For example, data center environments followed fairly homogenous designs, while remote sites were handled by relatively low-tech infrastructure components.
But with the arrival of virtualization technologies, all has changed and has created the expansion of borderless networking. This in addition to economic changes is what’s driving changes to how IT architects and operates routing and switching infrastructure.

Virtualization has produced a high-bandwidth, high density environment, which pushes networking equipment to handle multiple protocols. In this process, traditional networking conventions are being replaced by newer ones.

Overall, new technologies offer tremendous opportunity for improved performance at lower costs; but the pace of change has made it an ongoing challenge for customers trying to keep up with what’s happening, and what’s possible.

BYOD, Bring Your Own Device is an example of processes driving network design. Not long ago there were only a few network-connected computing devices for one location, today there are individual devices for each user AND multiple mobile devices. BYOD also increases requirements for network access control, security and capacity. And many employees are telecommuting, which adds another set of essentially remote offices to the overall design causing more pressure than ever to have an outstanding networking team!

One of Vivo’s strengths is to provide clients with top notch network engineers and architects.
Please let us know if we can help you too!

Cindy Holmes, Business Development Manager, Vivo | cindy.holmes@vivoinc.com

Lajos has given us an update on his trip and the results of our efforts!

“After a hard disk failure in the main server, several power outages and other technical and logistical challenges, I am so happy to say that our mission is accomplished! Karanda Hospital now has a networked computer infrastructure that will replace the old paper and hard document-based system and serve patients more efficiently,” said Koppanyi.

Koppanyi thanks VIVO and MILESTONE for all our financial and moral support. “Without your faithful participation, my execution of this trip would not have been possible. You enabled me to achieve my goals. You have been a part of a humanitarian project that made a positive impact on the lives of many people.”

He continues stating, “Unfortunately one of the hard disks in the server got internally damaged while it was shipped from the United States. This caused the system to crash towards the end of the server configuration. I lost at least two days’ worth of work, and had to start over the entire installation and configuration process. However, I was still able to finish the project properly and on time,” said Lajos.

Lajos installed and configured all components, setup user accounts and setup home directories to store used data. Additionally, he setup the backup device so the daily user data would be secure. Furthermore, Lajos was able to train the IT technician and the user community.

Lajos explained he was blessed to experience the local way of living during his one week duration at Karanda Hospital. “I became familiar with cold water showers, regular power outages and no access to any grocery stores or any other basic necessities,” added Lajos.

Lajos had travelled to other parts of the world as well on similar trips (Senegal, Ethiopia, and Pakistan), and he takes away the same principals every time: the lasting joy and happiness is originating from activities focused on helping a cause and impacting directly or indirectly other people’s lives.

Lajos plans to do more IT work at Karanda Hospital, and he has also discussed the need to setup a computer network at a college in Harare.

VIVO is glad to have taken part in helping Lajos Koppanyi implement IT in Zimbabwe, Africa.  We are thankful that our employees, friends, and MILESTONE were able to contribute to the Karanda Mission Hospital and help them save lives.

• As in many instances in life, there is a time and place for everything. Some photos are best left off of Linked In profiles.
• If you have to think, should I use that photo, then the answer is “NO”.

LinkedIn has more than “50 million+ members in its professional network” which encourages users to “manage (their) professional identity.”  There is a lot of information that should be considered in LinkedIn’s statement.  The most important is that “YOU” manage your profile and that it is a “PROFESSIONAL” network.

When considering a photo for LinkedIn, ask yourself the following:

• Is the photo recent?
• Are you the focus of the photo?
• Is it really a photo?  logo, cartoon, avatar, etc.
• Is the photo distracting?  background, posed, not really you

For many, your LinkedIn photo is your first impression.  Ask yourself, “If I was meeting this person for the first time as a professional, how would I appear?”  For many, LinkedIn is the first step in the interview process – whether you know it or not.

We have all seen photos that cause you to think “really?”, and I suppose it is an occupational hazard in our field.  But, if we get through misspelled job titles and summary statements, we are still left scratching our heads and strange or inappropriate “professional” profile photos.

Let’s look at some examples. Note that I have aimed for t middle of the road examples. There are better and worse for each category. For illustration purposes, I purposely chose only photos from the recruiting industry. Arguably, each of these photos was purposefully selected by individuals who know the importance of first impressions.

First, the “good”.

Well-balanced  and Composed, Professional and Natural	Well-balanced  and Composed, Professional and Natural

The photos below are playing on the margins of good.  They are not perfect but they could be better.  And what do you know; they are from the “Staffing Industry”

Forced Smile with a lot of FLASH and BLING	Not facing the camera

And now for the bad: